Relishing Creamed Spinach

Last night, Carlo and I enjoyed a healthy low-carb dinner of homemade buffalo wings. As a side, I wanted to be brave and make creamed spinach for the first time. After looking over a variety of recipes, I came up with my own with a nice sweet kick of pickled relish.

The creamed spinach I've had in the past has been good, but I've mostly tasted cream. The spinach was just what the dish its texture. The flavor of the spinach was lost.

In my recipe, the softened cream cheese added texture to the spinach, not the other way around. By adding the relish, it helped the spinach to really shine through. The garlic and Parmesean cheese just enhanced the taste even more. And by baking it? Well, it allowed all of the ingredients to meld nicely.

I sound like a braggart, and I hate that. BUT DAMN! It was good! This may become a regular side dish for us,

- Carmella

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 10oz. package of frozen spinach, completely thawed and drained
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. sugar-free pickle relish
• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper to taste
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter in pan, then add spinach and garlic powder.
3. Mix in the relish, then the cream cheese until well blended.
4. Add Parmesean cheese, salt and pepper, and stir.
5. Spoon mixture into 4 ramekin dishes, place them on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

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Blake Bakes - Cheddar Polenta Biscuits

Carm's got a new post up at Blake Bakes for Cheddar Polenta Biscuits. It comes with a little poem for your reading enjoyment. Click here to check it out, and other new posts from the Blake Blakers!

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Blake Bakes: Blackberry Kuchen

I have a new post up on BlakeBakes.com. It's for a dessert called Blackberry Kuchen, that's almost like a tart/cake with a streusel topping. I actually made a Blackberry-Apple one using the recipe that I shared. So do check it out, along with all of the other great posts from my fellow BB bloggers.

The link to the actual post is located at http://blakebakes.com/?p=53.

- Carmella

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TWD: The BEST Chocolate Pudding!!! YUM!

I took a break from TWD last week because of the long holiday weekend. Carlo and I decided to enjoy a few days with no set plans and no parties to attend. We actually did very littke cooking and baking too.

So we're back this week with Melissa of It's Melissa's Kitchen, and her selection, Chocolate Pudding. The recipe is found on page 383 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours. It put a big smile on my face. To me, there's nothing better in the world than chocolate in its oh so many forms.

Chocolate pudding has always been a great, simple and satisfying snack and dessert. Growing up, Mom always had Jell-O chocolate pudding boxes, not the instant mix, on hand. Then came, "Handi-Snack" sized cups to throw in the lunch box. Now, we have Dorie's recipe take brings the pudding to a grown-up level, but it brings back memories of mom cooking up the pudding on the stove.

With Dorie's recipe, I did go the reduced sugar route. As usual, I halved the sugar and replaced it with Splenda's Baker's Blend. For the melted chocolate, I used a 3.5 oz bar of Ghirardelli Intense Dark Espresso Escape 60% Cacao with 1.5 oz of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. I also used skim milk, which didn't take away from the flavor. If anything it made the dark chocolate more subtle to complement the semi-sweet.

I couldn't help myself while pouring the pudding into the ramekins. I did have a more than a few tastes of it. It was really, really, really, really, umm did i say really, good! After the pudding was set, it was even better. But of course, it would be! It's has to be the best pudding I've had to date.

If you're new to the Tuesdays with Dorie phenonmenon and our take on the wonderful recipes from Dorie's book, do check out the members' results by going through the blogroll located here.

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Blake Bakes: A Straw-Choco-Berry Cookie Creation

I forgot to post this earlier. Please check out my latest Blake Bakes post of my Straw-Choco-Berry Cookies recipe! If you ever make them yourself, please let me know what you think of them!

http://blakebakes.com/?p=51

- Carmella

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Snickerdoodle-Dooooooooooo

I never had a snickerdoodle before. I never even knew what one was until I started food blogging. So somehow I was driven to make these. Then again, I think it because Carlo kept saying he wanted cookies and I just wanted him to shut up! I'm somewhat glad he nudged me into this, because I was really pleased.

I learned that Snickerdoodles were a German sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon-sugar. So now that I found out what it was and what went into it, I was on the hunt for a recipe. I came across a great, flavorful recipe for these cookies at JoyofBaking.com. The only thing I did differently was halve the sugar and replace it with Splenda Baking Blend. Everything else was exactly as it was in the recipe.

I have to say that these cookies were really tasty. The cinnamon-sugar and vanilla made for a great combination, yet were subtle with each bite of the cookie. The only thing was that I was left with a lot of cinnamon-sugar after rolling the dough balls in it. So I sprinkled the extra on the baked cookies when they were out of the oven.
If you haven't tried these before, you must try them now!!

Check out these Snickledoodles at http://www.joyofbaking.com/Snickerdoodles.html

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TWD: Apple Cheddar Scones

Apple-y Goodness on a Warm Summer Day!

Thanks to Karina of The Floured Apron, this past week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection was Apple Cheddar Scones from page 32 of Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. All I have to say is Apple + Cheddar Cheese = DELICIOUSNESS!

If I haven't said it before, I have to say it now. Apple and cheddar cheese is THE BEST food combinations ever...well next to anything with chocolate! So making these tasty savory with a touch of sweet treats brought a smile to my face. After making the cream scones a few days, I couldn't wait to see how these would be.

The recipe was super-easy and really quick. The texture of the flour-cornmeal mix went great with the subtle crunch of the apple and sharp cheese flavor. Using fresh pink lady apples and unsweetened apple juice gave a nice touch a sweetness that didn't overpower the dough.

I know the recipe called for dried apples, but I really wasn't in the mood to buy any. However, I was concerned fresh apples would cause the mixture to become too moist. Surprisingly, it didn't impact it at all. So I wonder why Dorie went with dried apples in the first place. If it was for the sweetness, I would have thought the dried ones may have been too much. Maybe there's a reason for choosing one over the other. Nevertheless, I'm glad I used fresh apples for this recipe, because it was a winner. Carlo couldn't help himself to 1...2...3...umm 4 scones!!

- Carmella

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